In another sign that federal prosecutors are building a case against notorious Uptown crime kingpin Telly Hankton and some of his alleged cohorts, Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro's office dropped murder charges Wednesday against Hankton and another man accused in a 2009 murder at Terpsichore and LaSalle streets. For nearly three years, Edward Allen, 49, and Hankton, 36, have been charged with murder in the brutal slaying of Jesse "TuTu" Reed, a longtime Hankton rival.

Edward 'Skinny' Allen, left, and Telly Hankton

But Cannizzaro's office dropped the charges Wednesday, citing a request from federal authorities. The move set the stage for Allen's release and the transfer of Hankton's case to federal court.

Hankton, who was flown in from Angola by helicopter for his court appearance, is going nowhere, having been convicted last September in the cold-blooded 2008 killing of Darnell Stewart in front of a daiquiri shop on South Claiborne Avenue.

Both Stewart and Reed were suspected but never arrested in the December 2007 slaying of George "Cup" Hankton, a cousin of Telly's, in Gert Town. Authorities say Hankton was bent on retaliation when he killed Steward and Reed. Hankton allegedly killed Reed while out on $1 million bond in Stewart's murder.

Christopher Bowman, a Cannizzaro spokesman, said the office dropped the charges against Hankton and Allen at the behest of federal authorities.

"Pursuant to the request of the U.S. Attorney's office, the DA's office dismissed the case and transferred custody of the evidence to the US Attorney's office," Bowman said in an email.

But whether the pending federal case includes Allen along with Hankton is unclear.

Allen's attorney, Jason Williams, has been fighting for more than a year over a trial date that was repeatedly delayed because Cannizzaro's office wanted to try Hankton first in Reed's killing.

Williams said evidence -- including photos, toll receipts and witness statements -- shows Allen was in Houston when Reed was killed.

"We've said over and over that evidence points to the fact Edward Allen was not present or involved in any way" in Reed's killing, Williams said. "The state has made a decision we have been asking for."

Jan Mann, first assistant in U.S. Attorney Jim Letten's office, declined to comment on Allen, saying only, "We appreciate the district attorney's office allowing us to continue with the federal investigation of the Hankton organization."

An eyewitness to Reed's killing, Hasan Williams, told police that he saw Hankton and another man known as "Skinny" get out of a car and fire away at Reed, who was shot about 50 times.

Williams was shot dead a few weeks later, allegedly to muzzle him. Police have made no arrests in Williams' shooting, but ballistics reports show that two of the same guns used to kill Reed also were fired on Williams.

Hankton, whom Mayor Mitch Landrieu last year called out as the city's most menacing violent criminal, allegedly ran a sprawling drug empire whose markets were enforced with violence.

Signs of interest from Letten's office, in Hankton and those around him, have grown over the past six months.

Before Hankton's trial in Stewart's death, the Claiborne Avenue daiquiri shop's owner, John Matthews, was shot 17 times in his house, allegedly in retaliation over his identification of Hankton.

Matthews survived and went on to provide key trial testimony against Hankton. But just days after Hankton's sentencing, Matthews' brother, Curtis Matthews, was gunned down and killed in front of the daiquiri store.

Another Hankton cousin, Thomas Hankton, faces an attempted murder charge in John Matthews' shooting. Thomas Hankton, along with three woman, also faces perjury and conspiracy charges stemming from alibi testimony in Telly Hankton's first trial in Stewart's killing, which ended with the jury deadlocked.